The Confident Witness (8)
Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 1 Corinthians 3.5-8
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear… 1 Peter 3.15
Misconceptions
The work of evangelism—telling the Good News about Jesus and His Kingdom—has been appointed to all who believe in Him as our day-to-day calling (Acts 1.8; Ps. 96.2). This means that if you and I profess to believe in Jesus, then we have signed on the dotted line to be His witnesses within the sphere appointed to us, our Personal Mission Field. And if you have mapped your Personal Mission Field, then you know clearly who the people are to whom Christ sends you day-to-day as His witness.
So why has the work of evangelism fallen on such hard times of late? I can think of three reasons.
First, Christians have been taught to think of evangelism as a church responsibility, not an individual one. The church will do the witnessing through its preaching and outreach events. Our job is to encourage the people we know to come and hear the preaching and teaching which the church sponsors and provides.
While there is some truth to this, it’s not the whole of it.
Second, some, perhaps many, of us have come to believe that the Gospel is so precious and so precise that, if we don’t tell it right, we could mess everything up and fail in our witness. We need much training to be good witnesses, and most of us just don’t have that training. So we lack confidence in our witness. Better leave it to the professionals.
Finally, we tend to think of evangelism as an event, something that happens between a believer and an unbeliever, a kind of one-shot opportunity to unload a truckload of saving truth into the open soul of a willing listener. Get it right, get it all, get it now. And most of us are not convinced that we have enough of the good stuff in our bin to be persuasive. So we leave the work of evangelism to the professionals.
The result of these conditions is obvious: We who are charged with evangelizing are not evangelizing. That’s not good for wrong-believers. And it’s certainly not what God intends for us.
Evangelism: An overview
Let’s start back at the beginning and make sure we know what being a witness means. That way we might have a better chance of becoming a confident witness in due course.
Paul outlines what should be our thinking about evangelism: Evangelism is a process, not an event. Salvation is an event, and we would love to see all our wrong-believing friends come to faith in Jesus. But the event of salvation is not in our hands. God, Paul explains, must give whatever increase is to be. The Lord must add to His churches such as are being saved (Acts 2.47). We don’t save anyone. And if we think we do, or perhaps must, then we will either be pushy or hasty or too easy in our witness. God saves people. We don’t. The work of saving people is God’s. The work of evangelizing them is ours.
And Paul explains that evangelism is a process. I used to do some work with a very fine ministry called Christian Business Men’s Connection. They do excellent work of evangelizing men in the business world. At the time I was working with them, they defined evangelism as “Helping a person take one step closer to God.” Compare that definition with others I’ve heard: “Sharing the Gospel.” “Leading someone to faith in Christ.” The CBMC definition acknowledges what Paul is getting at in our text. Evangelism is a process. We must understand the process, acquire the skills necessary to keep it going, and be patient with those to whom God sends us.
For the vast majority of us, doing the work of evangelism will entail getting to know people, praying for them, sharing our testimony with them, inviting them to church, sharing some Scripture, offering hospitality or help, keeping up the relationship through friendly conversations, sharing how Jesus has changed your life, asking them to consider a passage of Scripture, inviting them to read the Bible or a Christian book with you, and much more—and not necessarily in the order I have given here.
A hope they can see
Such evangelizing allows us to show by our lives the difference Jesus can make. Hopefully, they will come to see that we are truly interested in them, and this is something many people desire. Not interested so that we might gain something from them, but interested in them as persons, image-bearers of God, people upon whom God showers His grace day by day. We’ll want them to know that we are Christians, of course, but in a way that fleshes out that claim gradually—glowing, not blaring the Light of the world upon them.
Only God can save someone, and the closer to Him we can lead them, by our lives and words, patiently over time, the greater will be the likelihood of His opening their heart to the Good News of Christ and His Kingdom.
And this brings us back to where we began this study: Our own relationship with the Lord. Peter urged his readers to work hard at confirming their calling and election, staying in the Word of God, growing stronger in prayer, focusing on the precious and very great promises of Jesus, living in a Christlike manner, and sanctifying Jesus in their hearts. If we’ll do this, Peter says, the hope we have in Jesus will be noticeable. People will see our hope in the way we treat them, in our conversation, our outlook on the world, our overall attitude, and a thousand other ways.
And when they see that, Peter says, they’ll want to know why. The old saw, wrongly attributed to Francis of Assissi, is true nonetheless: As Christians we are called to evangelize always. And when it’s necessary, or the opportunity opens before us, use your words, filled with grace and truth.
For reflection
1. Why is evangelism a process and not an event? What are some ways you are pursuing that process?
2. How do our deeds and words work together to help someone come closer to the Lord?
3. If everyone in your church worked their Personal Mission Field as a process of evangelism, what might be the impact on your community?
Next steps—Preparation: Review your Personal Mission Field. Today, what opportunities for evangelizing—in the process of evangelism—will you have? Are you ready to take those on?
T. M. Moore
Give thanks
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Knowing Jesus
Being confident witnesses begins in our relationship with Jesus, in knowing Him. Two books can help you grow in Jesus. To Know Him is a brief and lively exposition of Philippians 3.7-11 and explains what Paul means by this. You can order your copy by clicking here. Be Thou My Vision offers 28 daily meditations on Jesus, drawing on Scripture and writings from the period of the Celtic Revival. Order your copy by clicking here.
Thank you.
Many of you are faithful and generous in praying for and supporting Crosfigell and The Fellowship of Ailbe. Thank you. I encourage all our readers to seek the Lord about becoming a supporter of The Fellowship of Ailbe. It’s easy to give to The Fellowship of Ailbe, and all gifts are, of course, tax-deductible. You can click here to donate online through credit card or PayPal or Anedot, or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
